07/12/2016 | Saudi court sentences 15 people to death for spying for Iran

Reuters Staff

Dubai - A Saudi court on Tuesday sentenced 15 people to death for spying for the kingdom's arch-adversary Iran, Saudi-owned media reported, a ruling that could heighten antagonism between the regional powers.

The Specialized Criminal Court in Riyadh sentenced 15 other
defendants to prison terms ranging from six months to 25 years, and acquitted
two of them, the Arabic-language al-Riyadh newspaper said on its website.

The defendants - comprising 30 Saudi Shi'ite Muslims, one
Iranian and an Afghan - were detained in 2013 on charges of espionage for Iran
and went on trial in February. Tuesday's rulings are subject to appeal, and
death sentences must go to the king for ratification.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi denied
that any Iranian spying had occurred in Saudi Arabia. "Such accusations
are baseless and serve political motives,” he was quoted as saying by the
semi-official Tasnim news agency.

The trial was the first in recent memory in which Saudi
citizens were accused of spying. It came at a time of increasing struggle
between Saudi Arabia, the regional Sunni Muslim powerhouse, and Iran, a
non-Arab Shi'ite theocracy, for influence in the Middle East.

In January, Saudi Arabia executed a prominent Shi'ite
cleric convicted of involvement in the killing of policemen, prompting
protesters to storm the Saudi Embassy in Tehran. Riyadh then broke off
diplomatic relations.

Many of the 32 defendants were former employees of the
Saudi defense and interior ministries, Saudi media said. They were accused of setting
up a spy ring and passing sensitive military and security information to Iran
in an effort to sabotage Saudi economic interests, undermine community cohesion
and incite sectarian strife.

The charges included supporting protests in the
Shi'ite-majority region of Qatif in Eastern Province, recruiting others for
espionage, sending encrypted reports to Iranian intelligence via email and
committing high treason against the king.

Among those arrested in 2013 were an elderly university
professor, a paediatrician, a banker and two clerics.

Most were from al-Ahsa, a mixed Shi'ite and Sunni region
that is home to around half the members of the kingdom's minority Shi'ite
community.

Saudi Arabia has blamed sporadic unrest among Shi'ites in
Qatif on Iran, but never publicly presented evidence of a direct link between
Tehran and those who took part in protests between 2011 and 2013. The Islamic
Republic denies any involvement.